The One
by devils2good
Summary: Murdock is injured and needs help. He's found by a women who takes him in and patches him up. But he soon finds out that there's more to Dakota Jennings than meets the eye. This is my first story so please review and let me know how I'm doing. :)
1. Chapter 1

It was late in the evening when Dakota was returning home after a long day of shopping with the girls. She had just turned into the drive of her ranch, when a couple of hundred yards in she noticed something red picked out in her headlights. Pulling over to investigate the alien object on her drive, she found that it was a red ball cap with one word on it Airborne and a little silver pin badge to the right of it. Turning round to return to the car she also noticed something else that did not belong there. Highlighted in the car headlights was a distinctly human shape, male by the look of it, lying face down and motionless part of the way down the ditch that boarded the driveway.

Training kicking in she was at his side in an instant checking for a pulse, finding it there and to her relief it was quite strong. She gave a start at the sharp in take of breath that came from the seemingly lifeless body, he began to moan and come to. He tried to sit up but was over come by dizziness and a touch of nausiea. "Hang on there a minute, take it easy" she said noticing his distress.

"Where am I?" The mystery man asked in a distintive southern drawl turning his head slightly to find the source of her voice. It was then that she could see the reason for him being out cold when she found him; it was an extremely nasty gash above his left eye that was oozing blood down that side of his face.

"You're lying in the ditch at the side of my drive, with a nasty gash on your forehead, leaking blood everywhere, that's where you are!" she exclaimed more suprised than anything to have found him lying there. "Do you think you can sit up so I can take a closer look at your newly formed facial feature."

"I think so." Came the weak reply. With a little help he sat up and found himself looking into the most beautiful hazel eyes he'd ever seen.

Using the glare from the headlights to examine the wound a little further she decided that it would need hospital treatment. "Can you make it up to the car? I think you may need stitches. The hospital's not too far from here."

"No, no hospitals"

"But it needs to be seen by a doctor. It looks really bad!" She tried to put emphasise on the "bad" part.

"I'll live without seeing no doc. I've had worse than this."

"But ..."

He cut her off before she could continue "No buts, no hospital and certainly no doctors!" He said a little too harshly and regretted it instantly. She was trying to help him and right now he needed that help.

Unfazed by the tone of voice and seeing the apologetic look on his face she asked "Can you at least make it to the car so I can clean the wound. Then we'll go from there."

"Yep, think I may just be able to make it" He said smiling at her like a loon, because she seemed to have ignored the outburst. But when he tried put weight on his right foot he gasped in pain and sat back down with a thump. Dakota asked him what was wrong "I think I've sprained my right ankle." As he said it he had a flash back to earlier on in the day. He had trip over a tree root running about in some woods, but he couldn't remember why he was in the woods in the first place.

"Here let me help you." She offered out her hands to him. He took hold of them gratefully and he was suprised at the strenght she had to haul his ass up of the ground. Taking his right arm and draping it over her shoulders, she slipped her left arm around his waist under his leather jacket, taking the opportunity to check for any weapons hidden round his waist, there was nothing. The the check also told her that he was quite muscular, perhaps not a total nut about working out, but did so on a regular bases.

Together they reached the top of the ditch with a little effort and got to the car. Dakota was thankful that she had worn flats and not those monsterous heels that she was contemplating this morning. She helped him to sit in the passenger side of the car with him facing out so she could tend to him more easily. In the glow from the interior light she got a good look at the man and she thought she reconised him, but for the life of her could think where from. He was in his mid thirties with a thick mop of brown hair and lush green eyes. Consious that she was staring and that he was aware of it, she went to the back of the car to get the first aid kit that she always kept to hand. Picking up the hat she had discarded while rushig to see if he was okay.

When she came back round he could see that she had a ruck sack with a big red cross on it. Wondering why she would need such a large first aid kit to hand. He said "You're either very accident prone or you're waiting for world war 3!"

"Huh" came her reply. She was still lost in her thoughts when he had spoken to her and hadn't really heard what he said.

"Never mind" He said. "I'm James Murdock by the way." Giving her one of his dazzling smiles.

That's it, that's it; she did know him after all. His file had come across her desk one day last year, along with three others. He was one of the A Team that the government was so desperately seeking, but kept failing to lay their hands on. They had come close on a few occassions, but these guys were slipperier than a bar of soap in a prison shower room. There were some problems that she new she would have to deal with, one this guy was a federal fugative, two, if the reports were right, he was nuttier than squirrel shit but supposedly the best pilot they had seen and three she didn't believe they did what the report said. There were too many inconsistencies for her liking.

Not wanting to let on she knew who he was just yet she replied "Nice to meet you Mr Murdock. I'm Dakota Jennings." Returning an equally dazziling smile.

"Please call me James, Miss Jennings."

"Okay, only if you call me Kota"

"Deal!" He said giving her another smile.

Remembering that she still had the hat in her hand she passed it to him. "I believe this is yours."

"Thanks. I thought I'd lost it."

While she cleaned the wound she asked how he ended up in the ditch. "I don't remember all I know is that I was seperated from my friends after we were set upon by some knuckle dragging numpties and being chased in the woods. That's how I did my ankle in. I tripped over a tree root it just jumped out in front of me; I think it was on their side!" Finally things started to fall into place for him now and he really needed to get a hold of the colonel. But the thought was pushed out of his mind when she gave a little laugh at his joke. The fog seemed to clear and he realised how stunning this women was. She had dark brown hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, a cute little nose that by the looks of it had been broken and not be reset properly but that only added to her charm, her mouth was full and when she smiled it lit her whole face up. Her most striking feature though was her eyes they were like deep pools, thoughtful and knowing. They also had a look of something else that he had seen to many times before. The look that said I've seen to much bad shit, shit that would have most people screaming and running for the hills. It was a look he knew well, it was there every time he looked in the mirror.

Taking another look at the cut told her that stitches were required; she knew she'd have to do them herself. She had been trained in a number of advanced combat medical technquies, so stitching the gash would be easy enough. "Look, I can stitch this up for you. I got all the supplies up in the house, if you're really intent on not going to the hospital. What do you say?"

Feeling more himself he replied in a thick Scotish accent "Oh ay, soonds good to me Lass." Then a sudden realisation dawned on him. "Wait you are qualified aren't you! Cause I don't want no lightening bolts stitched on me." Trying not to look at him like he had horns growing out of his head, she assured him that she was fully qualified.

"Here hold this on it; it's still bleeding quite a bit." She said handing him a gaze pad. She helped him get his right ankle in the car, and by the grimace on his face it seem to be causing alot more pain than he was letting on. They drove the rest of the way to the house in silence.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer – I do not own anything connected to The A Team, only the o/c is mine.**

**Hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I have writing it :0). Reviews are very welcome.**

**Warning for language used in the next chapters.**

Earlier on in the evening...

The last shots rang out and shouts of "clear" came from three of the team and they all waited for the fourth, but nothing. Hannibal shouted "Murdock are you clear!" again nothing. "Shit" he mumble under his breath.

"Boss his position has been over run, his gun has jammed" Face shouted back. "Shit" he said it a little louder this time. He hated it when one of his plans went tits up and all the more so when it put one of his boys in danger.

Joining back up with the other two men Hannibal assessed the area. He found the imprints of Murdocks well love Chucks in the still softened ground from the storm they had a few days ago. There were other footprints in the same location four maybe five different ones; this was not good, not good at all. Just as he was thinking at least he's got his sidearm with him he noticed it lying under a bush a little further up the track. Shit really not good.

After retrieving the m9 he re-laid what he found to Face and B.A. "Damn! Whats that crazey ass fool got himself into now."

"Boss" Face said. "I'm worried!"

"Me too kid" Hannibal said. They were down in Orange County in the foot hills of the Santa Ana Mountains. Hannibal wasn't worried about Murdock finding his way back; he had been studying maps of the local area just in case air suport was needed so he knew the lay of the land. He was just hoping that those neanderthal's wouldn't catch up with him.

"What's the plan Hannibal?" Face asked. He was worried about Murdock, but he knew how fast the pilot could run and new he wouldn't have problem eluding those thugs. He would show up eventually, probably with a new invisible best friend.

"The plan is to get back to the Holdens. Clayton and his cronies are bound to turn up there." The Holden's were the family that had hired them to stop Clayton trying to to run them off their ranch. He wanted their land and he wasn't gonna stop till he had it. It started with offers to by the land but at very reduced price, when Robert Holden refused the offers Clayton started getting nasty. He threatened the lives of Robert and his wife Rosemary. Then there was the fire that burned one of the stables down, killing two horses one beloning to their thirteen year old daughter. They had called in the police but there was no evidence left, there was no trace of accelerant. The stable was an old wooden building it wouldn't have taken alot to get it going nice and quick. Hannibal's plan had been to confront Clayton on his own land. Hannibal had said he wanted to pull the Rottweiler's tail to see if its bark was worse than its bite.

"Come on Face, B.A lets get moving Murdock will get in contact. Our priority now is the Holden's."

At the Holden's place everyone was waiting either for Murdock to show up or the Claytons. Their wait was a long one. It had been five hours since they had last seen Murdock and Hannibal was starting to think if he'd made the right discision about not going after him. They hadn't seen hide or hair of the Clayton gang like he thought they would. Perhaps he had more smarts than he gave him credit for.

"Hannibal it's getting late, its 11 o'clock and there's been no contact with that fool." B.A said just then the Holden's house phone started to ring.

Dakota parked the car around the back of the house level with the kitchen door. She went around to the passenger side to help James out of the car and up the steps to the kitchen. Once inside she helped him to sit on one of the chairs that served a large kitchen table.

"I won't be a minute the suture kit is up stairs in the bathroom." She said as she left the room.

Once on his own the thought returned to him that he needed to get in contact with Hannibal. He was wondering what had gone down after he was forced to abandon his positon. He hoped the rest of the guys were ok, they had come under heavy fire from the Clayton gang.

Dakota came back in and he noticed she had changed out of the jeans and top she had been wearing into some very fitting jogging bottoms and a t-shirt that was hugging her nicely as well. She put the medical box down on the table and pulled a chair up in front of him and sat down with her knees either side of his, being careful of his bad ankle. She opened the box and pulled out a couple of needles and some thread they were all presterilised and packaged neatly, very professional looking, not the usual cotton thread and sewing needles Hannibal was always using on them. She opened up a syringe that had a needle on the end and drew some liquid out of a little bottle. "This will help with the pain. It's some local anasetic." She said injecting it by the cut.

While they waited for it to take effect she asked him if he remembered any more about what happened to him. He explained to her that he and his friends were helping out the Holdens because they had a problem with the Clayton's who lived a couple of miles down the road from them.

"Wait the Clayton's are after the Holden's land as well?"

"What do you mean as well?" He asked with a concerned look on his face.

"I've had a few run in's with old Hank Clayton myself lately. He's been coming around here asking to buy my property. Each time he asks he gets a little pushier. So I started doing a little research on him but I've been out of town for a few weeks and not been able to do as much as I wanted. I only just found out about the barn fire when I got back yesterday."

"Here let me stitch this then I'll get the file."

"And what were you going to do once you had all the info that you needed." He asked as she threaded the needle.

"I haven't decided yet!" He could feel an immense tension radiating out of her and there was a steely look in her eyes.

Thinking there was more to it that than just the offers he tentatively asked "Have they threatened you personally like they did the Holden's?"

"Yes." She replied hesitantly as she put in the first stitch. "They have, but there's not much they can say or do that'll scare me off."

She finished off the other three stitches in silence. After covering the cut and clearing the suture kit away, she went to her office safe and got out her file on Hank and Jeremy Clayton, handing it to him when she got back to the kitchen. She went to get some cling film from the cupboard and a bag of ice from the fridge "Would you like something to drink? How 'bout a beer?" She enquired.

"A beer would go down a treat." He replied with a smile. She gathered up the beer, ice and cling film and got some pain killers out of the cupboard that was next to the fridge.

"There you go take two of them, they should help with the head ache" He hadn't mentioned a head ache but with a bump like that it was probably pounding like a jack hammer. "Thanks."

He read quietly through the file while she proped his leg onto her lap so she could finally have a look at his ankle. She carefully took off his converse shoe and sock. The ankle was very bruised and swollen. When she gave it a prod he jump about a foot of the chair and squealed like a little girl being attacked by puppies, which had her almost crying with laughter.

"Ahhhh! That's not funny, that hurt!" But he found himself laughing with her dispite the pain because her laugh was so infectious. Finally after calming down she held the ice on it and wrapped it with the cling film, as he finished reading the file and he didn't like what he read one little bit.

"How did you get all this information on Clayton?" He asked her there was information in the file that even Hannibal didn't have, it was game changing info.

"I have some contacts." Is all she would give him.

"I gotta to get in touch with my friends, have you got a phone I can use please?"

"Yep, it's in my coat." She turned to leave but he caught her arm and when she turned he said "Thank you. You didn't have to do what you've done. You find some guy lying at the side of the road and you just bring him into your home and stitch him up like it's an everyday occurrance."

She just smiled at him and left the room.

He couldn't remember any of the guy's numbers a bit of memory loss from the knock to his head he knew it would all come back to him it had happened before, so Kota managed to find the Holden's number for him.

The phone was answered by a familiar voice. "Face?" he asked

"Are you okay? Murdock where are you? Are you okay?"

"Apart for a few cuts and bruises I'm fine Muchacho. I'm on a ranch about fives north of the Holden place." "Face, Face, FACE!" The lieutenant had taken the phone away from his ear while he relayed the information to Hannibal and B.A.

"Yeah Budd"

"I need to talk to Hannibal." He heard the receiver being passed over and a gruff voice asked him "What's your situation Captain?"

"Hey Bossman. I lost the troglodytes, I've busted my ankle, smashed my face into a fence post, was rescued by an angel," he looked up at Kota who had been listening to his side of the conversation and gave her a wink and he was sure he'd seen her blush slightly. "I've been stitched up and had a beer."

"You've been busy." Hannibal said and Murdock could hear the smile in his voice.

"You know me never a boring moment. I've also managed to get my hands on something you may find very interesting."

"Okay let me know your location and we'll come get you."

He gave him the directions to Dakota's ranch and hang up "They're on their way."


	3. Chapter 3

"Before your friends get here there's something I need to tell you. I know who you are Captain; I know you're member of the A Team and how you are all wanted by the army and anyone else that can lay their hands on you."

Murdock looked at her a little dumbstruck.

Before she could say anymore she was interrupted by a loud continuous beeping from a car horn.

Murdock and Kota looked at each other. "Unless B.A has found a way to make his van travel at the speed of light, this is not good!" He said.

Kota went to have a look out of one of the front windows and there larger than life was Hank fucking Clayton. God she hated the guy. She returned to the kitchen "It's Clayton and some of his minions!" opening the cupboard nearest the back door she handed him a shotgun. "I'll go and get rid of them. If they should get past me shoot the fuckers"

"Wait you can't go out there on your own and I can't do much to protect you in this state. I can hardly stand let alone fight."

"I don't need to be protected. I can look after myself."

There was a manic glint in her eyes that told him if he pushed the subject then he'd incur her wrath as well. She stormed out of the room and swung open the front door to meet Clayton.

"Well, hello there darling." Hank Clayton sneered at her.

"What do you want?"

"You know full well what I want!"

"Yes I do and like I told you before I ain't selling, so take a hike." She snarled at him.

Damn this woman was feisty, Murdock thought. He had managed to hobble to the door and remained hidden so he could provide Kota with cover should she need it.

She had moved down the steps that led down from the front porch and onto the drive to put herself level with them. There were six of them in total, Hank and four of his guys were standing in front of the pickup they had come in and the sixth guy was sat in the driver's seat ready to make a quick getaway. He wasn't there to play nice.

"I've also come looking for someone. He was last seen running across your field and I really would like to talk to him."

She was well aware that Clayton was trying to distract her while his men made to surround her. Murdock didn't like how the situation was developing. This Clayton dude was a nasty piece of work and he didn't think he'd been taught not to hit girls.

"Well Hank, I haven't seen him, but if he should turn up here I'll be sure to let him know you're looking for him." She said sarcastically.

"Now why don't I believe you" He gave a slight nod to his right and the biggest of his guys made a grab for her.

Being totally prepared for something to happen, coupled with the fact that she was smaller and quicker gave her a huge advantage. With one quick step to the side she took a hold of the arm the goon had tried to grab her with. Another quickstep and a dip put her shoulder under the offending arm and with one mighty heave downward she broke it at the elbow. Screaming with agony he dropped to his knees cradling his arm.

The next attack came from the right this guy was a lot small not much bigger than her really. He ran at her, she took a few paces forward to meet him, as they came together she planted her right foot between his and in a well practised move dipped at the hips and drove her shoulder in and upwards. She wrapped her arms around him at the same time and they both went crashing to the ground. She was up first and placed a savage kick to the family jewels which released a groan from every guy that was still standing, even Murdock subconsciously cradled his package in sympathy.

The third guy was the fighter of the group he was moving as she was picking herself up off the floor and just after the kick he smashed a big hand into her shoulder and sent her off balance. She recovered quickly but not quickly enough, he placed a savage kick of his own that hit her on the hip. As she was getting back up he grabbed her in a bear hug from behind and lifted her feet off the floor. "Ha, ha. What you gonna do now bitch?" He shouted in her ear. In answer she tilted her head forward and then threw it back, it connected with his nose and it exploded. He dropped her to grab his nose and when her feet hit ground she twisted and let loose a round house kick to the same place she had just head butted him. He screamed as the blood gushed down his already grimy t-shirt.

As she turned to face Clayton a shot gun blast rung out "I don't think so, drop it and take a step back." That southern drawl more pronounced now that he was shouting. He'd been in awe watching her fight, he had never seen a woman fight as good as she had, most trained men couldn't have done any better. But he acted as soon as he'd seen Clayton draw his revolver. "I said drop it!" Another loud blast from the gun made Clayton see sense; he dropped the gun and stepped back.

"Kota, are you still in one piece?"

"Yes. All present and correct." She turned her attention back to Clayton. "Now I suggest you collect your rubbish and get out of here before I ask my friend here to aim a little lower." She picked up the discarded gun and joined Murdock on the porch. Clayton was still standing there glaring at her.

"You heard the lady, bye, bye." Murdock said and put a round in the ground just short of Clayton's feet.

That got them moving and elicited a growl of "You won't get away with this I'll be back."

"And I'll be waiting with the red carpet rolled out and the kettle on. Now if you don't mind I got more important things to do than banter with a witless wonder like you."

They watched them get into the pickup and speed down the driveway. She helped Murdock to the living so he could keep his leg raised on the sofa while they waited for the rest of the team.

"So are you gonna finish telling me who you are." He asked curious to find out who this woman was.

"I'm an ex- F.B.I and I've been through Ranger training and gained the rank of Captain."

"But women excluded from becoming Rangers." He said a little confused.

"Yes they are under normal circumstances. The Bureau approached the army for me to have the most comprehensive training that they could give me so that I could head up the new task force they were putting together."

The rest of the team were roughly a mile when a pickup few past them. "They must have come from the Jennings place because there ain't anything up this road but the ranch" B.A said.

"Floor it B.A." Hannibal gave the command and the van shot forward without hesitation. He knew it must have been one of the Claytons and by the way they were shifting down the road couldn't mean anything good.


End file.
